Is it worth to buy the Asus Xonar D2X ?

I have an on-board sound now(RT892).
It sounds decent,but I would like more control over the card and some EAX effects in games.Also I listen a lot of music from an online radio.
I have a pretty quality Hi-Fi system connected(Aiwa NSX-S50)old,but still sounds much better than any 5.1 system I have.

So,do you think I will hear a difference in music and games with this card.
Can you suggest another card in a similar price range?

Thanks in advance!

 

I've got the Xonar Essence STX it's way better than the onboard VIA VT2020 codec on my ASUS P55 board. To answer your question, if you are able to get a Xonar D2X, it will sound better than the onboard Realtek ALC892 codec on your motherboard, it does support EAX through DS3DGX, but that is only software based EAX which means the EAX is emulated.

I honestly don't know of the Xonar D2X can still be bought anyplace, as I've checked multiple online resellers in the United States and none of them have it listed as active stock anymore.

 

what would be a good substitute for the xonar ?

around the same price +-

 

I got the Xonar D2x and it is worth it, it sounds really great

 

A dedicated sound card will be better than onboard, and that Asus card will be great, whether you choose analog or digital

Regards,
RagDoll.

 

Thank you,here in Croatia it is listed with the Creative labs cards only and it costs about 170 $.

What do you sound gurus think how it stands overall compared to CL X-Fi Titanium HD for music and gaming?

 

I haven't exactly heard either, however I've heard Guru's here say the Titanium HD is the best card there is

 

Compare to the D2X, the X-FI Titanium HD would be the better choice if you see it for the same price as the D2X.

The Titanium HD is comparable to the Xonar ST and STX, Them all have opamp sockets and uses high end components on the card. The only lAdv ST and STX has it it has a headphone amp ingraded on the card. That's its.

 

The Titanium HD is on sale at Bestbuy for $79.. Or it was.. That thing is always on sale. But that doesn't help him in Croatia.. The only thing is.. If your just going to use stereo headphones you'll be fine. If your going to do 5.1 you need a diff card.

 

Unless he using just Digital For DDlive / DTS encodering then a cheap Xonar is good enough

 

Got a Xonar DX, it's good enough but not that much better than the onboard on my Crosshair IV, you're really just paying for the EAX software. Might I add Asus software is absolutely rubbish and unreliable (won't work for no reason at all, then a year later, no changes, works [PC Probe II, Fan Xpert, Audio Suite...]).

DX --> 16-bit @ 96Khz for £20

I'd say it's about 10 - 15% better than onboard as a rough estimate. Never listened to anything better

 

Thanks.

The SB THD is 200 $ here.
How are the drivers for it.I had an Audigy 2 and the drivers were so bad that I sold it for 20$ and went on-board.
Did the situation improved on current hardware,is EAX working in Win7 in games,are the drivers stable,can I manage the basses with it?

Thanks in advance!

 

The drivers for the X-Fi HD pcie been working great for me in windows 7, tho I didnt have any issues with older creative cards either, just like I didn't have issues with Xonar cards other then Asus's Xonar GX mode.

It has all types of settings you can config with it creative console launcher. EAX never stopped working in windows 7. EAX is done thru OpenAL, Direct sound hal dying had no impact on it. Games that come out now are either Openal+EAX, Openal+EFX, FMOD+EAX or Fmod+EFX or uses software their own Sound api.

THe Xonars do emulate EAX5 with GX mode but it inst perfect.

How much is the ST and STX there, if those are cheap those will be another choice if you dont care about EAX and want a ingraded headphone amp incase you get a pair of headphones that uses them.

The only way you will get 5.1 out of games with the X-Fi HD PCIE is if you use DD live encoding.

If your gonna use analog 5.1 then neither the STX or X-Fi HD pcie is for you, the ST will work if you can get a hold of its H6 board which seem to became rare.

 

Ok,the Titanium HD and the Xonar ST can output only to headphones and 2 speakers analog?
The Xonar ST is 260 $ here in Expensivehardwareland,so it is out of question,but looks impressive.
Do you think that the best allrounder here is the D2X for maybe a 5.1 future output?

 

The D2X is your best choice if your gonna use 5.1 analog.

 

The ST, can be upgrade to 7.1 with the daughter card add on.

A Xense 7.1 is a good option also if you can find one.

 

what about Auzentech XFI forte?

You could buy it from Slo to Cro for 150€. Or Xonar ST for 163€ or XFI HD for 164€


All products
http://www.demise-pc.si/index.php/cPath/21_75_90/sort/2a/page/1


+8€ extra for Post.. But you need to make a pay in advance..

Spoiler

Stroški pakiranja in dostave (Hrvaška-Srbija) obvezno plačilo po predračunu !

Pakiranje in dostava za poslovni paket do 2 kg = 8,00 Eur

http://www.demise-pc.si/information.php/info_id/1

Edit:
Or from Austria,
http://geizhals.at/?cat=sndpci&bpmax=&asuch=&v=e&plz=&dist=&xf=&sort=p

lol i got my new Gfx this way.. bought it at Mylemon.at shop and saved a few €€ (here at home 320€ there 295€ - tax +5€ post >> 255€)

 

Thanks for the opinions.

@Thehunter

You are from EU probably.The prices in SLO are equal +\- 3% as here.
The purchase outside Cro is subject to tax and customs which is about 30% on the total amount,which in the end cost me the same as here once the foreign tax is deducted.
We are still outside the Euro-zone.

Edit:
The shop in Austria has lower prices a bit overall when deduct tax,add import tax and custom,but I think it is not worth in case I RMA the card.

 

^
ah sry, i forgot you're not in EU yet, yea im from Slo.. And i agree prices here compared to Austria are a ripoff.:spam:


Anyway hope you find something, gl :nerd:

 

Thank you all,you have made things a lot clearer for me.